Uttar Pradesh in Hindi: उत्तर प्रदेश, Urdu: اتر پردیش, also popularly known by its acronym UP, is the fifth largest and the most populous state in India. The administrative and legislative capital is Lucknow and the judicial capital is Allahabad.

5.11.06

On the Yamuna river in Mathura

.Women drying up saris alongside the sacred Yamuna river in Mathura. A long line of picturesque, pink ghats - with their steps leading to the water's edge, arched gateways and a temple, of course pink, extending along the right bank of the River Yamuna, emphasise the sacred character of the town of Mathura. The birth place of Lord Krishna, "the best known, best loved and most complex of Lord Vishnu's manifestations". Mathura is today an important place of pilgrimage. An ancient city, Mathura's strategic location at the crossroads of various trade routes - that went westwards to West Asia and the Roman Empire; northwards, via Taxila, Pushkalavati and Purushapur to Central Asia and the Silk Route and eastwards to China - ensured its position as a centre of trade and a meeting point for many different cultures